


Life is Only a Path Full of Delicious Food

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Cooking, Implied/Referenced (very minor) Character Death, M/M, Slice of Life, Whiny Kim Jongdae | Chen, very lame egg jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 04:09:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14180265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Prompt 034Pairing: Platonic! Baekhyun/MinseokSummary: Baekhyun is an IT student having a sudden interest in cooking, Jongdae is his roommate that wishes he would stop.Minseok, on the other hand, thinks they should let Baekhyun do whatever he wants.





	Life is Only a Path Full of Delicious Food

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is my first time participating in a fic fest and to my dismay, the timeline clashes with all the projects I have in school, so it took me a lotto finish this fic, but oh Mom, I did it! Cheers to the mods for holding this fest, much loves and thanks to all mods for being so kind and understanding. ♡ I'd like to also thank my baby girl K for beta-ing this fic and for being with me through the whole journey of writing this, I can't do anything without you seriously. And to the prompter, I'm really sorry if this doesn't do your prompt justice! But I hope you would enjoy reading this. ♡

The sound of the main door being shut close along with a “We’re home!” greetings being said in unison signals that it’s time for him to take a break from his reading. He made sure to save all of his documents, shutting his laptop down before getting up from his study desk. He steps out of his room, stretching his body to release the numbness from sitting in front of his thesis for nearly six hours without a break.

 

He watches as both of his younger friends make their way into their room, finding it so unusual for Baekhyun to not go all bright and sunshine when the boy is looking like it’s costing him his life to even drag his legs to walk. Minseok shot Jongdae who’s walking behind the boy a questioning look, wondering what on Earth got the ever so bubbly Byun to be this quiet and so down. Jongdae however just shake his head subtly in a wordless  _ not now _ before opening the door to their shared room for Baekhyun who is standing lifelessly in front of him, looking like he can’t even do the simplest task like turning the doorknob. 

 

Deciding to ask them over dinner, Minseok stretches a little more before walking into the small kitchen in their apartment, leaving the two boys to rest and freshen up before dinner. He goes about to do his usual routine of preparing the main dish for their dinner, taking out a little more ingredients than usual from the fridge since it is Friday and they always have dinner together with their neighbours.

 

Being a full time student with enough allowance and side dishes they’d gotten whenever their mothers come to pay a visit, Minseok manage to whip out a pot of spicy kimchi stew for five person with his basic cooking knowledge he’d learn from his mother and watching cooking shows on TV. He turn off the stove and bring the pot to the coffee table where they usually eat as Jongdae comes out of his room, changed out into his pajamas. The boy perks up at the sight of a pot of stew on the table, grinning as he sits around the table, waiting for their dinner to start.

 

Just then, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo enters with the knowledge of their passcode. Chanyeol walks straight to their dining spot while Kyungsoo, being the only reliable one out of the four kids, heads into the kitchen with a paper bag in hand. He had told Minseok that he’s bringing some snacks to the dinner, so Minseok let him serve the dishes he bought on his own, considering that they are already comfortable in each other’s houses.

 

Noticing that Baekhyun has yet to leave the room, Minseok reminds Jongdae to call the boy. But when he turns around, he sees that both Jongdae and Chanyeol are absorbed in their musical composition talks, totally ignoring whatever’s happening around them, busy talking with their phones in hand. Sighing, Minseok heads towards Baekhyun and Jongdae’s shared room, knocking softly, calling the boy out.

 

“Baekhyun, dinner,” no answer. He knocks again before turning the doorknob softly, peeking inside to look for the boy. The room is dark, safe from the fairy lights taped on their window sill; illuminated enough light to cast a shadow over a figure wrapped in a blanket on Baekhyun’s bed. Stepping inside, towards Baekhyun’s bed, Minseok bends down to shake the figure underneath the blanket; careful and slow enough not to shock the boy just in case he was sleeping. The soft, sleepy groans coming out from under the blanket indicates that Baekhyun is indeed sleeping. 

 

Removing the blanket to reveal the sleeping boy, Minseok sees that Baekhyun had went to sleep without changing out of his clothes. The boy has quite a sulky countenance on his face which ticks a kind of feeling in Minseok’s heart. He presses a palm on the boy’s forehead, checking his body temperature; fortunately normal. Reminded of the state he came home with, Minseok shakes his shoulder, waking him up. It’s bad enough that the younger had went to sleep feeling down, but it’s not good for him to sleep on an empty stomach.

 

Baekhyun groans, his lips pouting as he stretches his fatigue away. Squinting at Minseok, his voice is sandy when he asks him what time it is. Standing up from the bed, Minseok answers with a simple “time for dinner, come out,” waiting a little while more before leaving the boy to wake himself up. When Minseok leaves the room, the coffee table is already filled with two more dishes, complete with a few different side dish he doesn’t remember seeing in their fridge; probably from Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.

 

The boys are already seated around the table, waiting for him and Baekhyun to join them. Minseok turns to check on the boy, relieved that he is already out of his bed, walking out of the room with squinty eyes and an ugly yawn. His bleached hair is sticking everywhere, making him look so adorable. Though, Chanyeol doesn’t really think so.

 

“You look like shit,” Chanyeol sniggers, receiving a smack from his boyfriend sitting beside him, to which he winces in pain because really, nobody wants to get on Kyungsoo’s bad side. 

 

“Yeah? That’s because I am  _ the _ shit,” Baekhyun scoffs as he walks over towards them, peering over the foods laid on the table. His eyes twinkle at the sight of samgyeopsal beside a pot of hot kimchi stew, a small smile playing on his lips as he sit beside Jongdae who has been glaring at him, mouthing at him to  _ sit the fuck down so we can eat. _ He takes the bowl of rice from Minseok, waiting for the eldest to start eating before they all dig in their food as well.

 

Their dinner goes about as loud as usual; Kyungsoo talking about new recipes he’d learn in his practical class, Chanyeol and Jongdae complaining about their instrumental teacher with Baekhyun interrupting here and there with his remarks and Minseok just listening to them since he doesn’t do much aside from getting his thesis done anyway. But he notices how Baekhyun isn’t as talkative as usual, although his remarks sometimes makes you either want to punch him to shut him up or laugh till you can’t contain anymore. He isn’t the only one that notices though, which is saying a lot, when Kyungsoo asked, “Baekhyun, you know that we know you’re not being yourself tonight, right?”

 

At that, Baekhyun paused from chewing the pork meat in his mouth to look up at his neighbour’s direction, before his eyes darts towards everyone else around the table. They are all looking at him, except Jongdae who’s busying himself with cutting the seafood pancake into smaller bits. Minseok and Kyungsoo sport the same, questioning look while Chanyeol, having a little too much empathy, is looking at him with concern. Baekhyun lets out a short chuckle, one that always appear when he’s not feeling himself. He finishes chewing the pork meat in his mouth, swallowing it, looking uncertain.

 

“He failed java, so he’ll have to take the replacement class and exam while we all enjoy our semester break,” Jongdae said with his mouth full. The frown in Baekhyun’s face grows deeper when he nods solemnly, confirming Jongdae’s answer on behalf of him. Minseok’s eyes widen at the answer, kind of too shocked that he puts down his spoon a little too loudly to turn and look at Baekhyun.

 

“You failed  _ what?! _ ” he asks, looking at Baekhyun. “Wasn’t that the course that you asked me to teach you that day?” he asks again, to which Baekhyun replies with a heavy nod, his head dipping lower by each seconds passing that he looks like he’s hiding his face inside the rice bowl. 

 

Minseok purses his lips, a glint of disbelief obvious in his eyes as he gulps down his water, obviously trying to cool himself down. He is about to open his mouth again when Chanyeol’s sudden cough interrupts them, causing both Kyungsoo and Jongdae to roll their eyes in annoyance because when did Chanyeol ever not choke on his own water. “Thanks for the food, hyung. We’ll get going first,” Jongdae mutters immediately, standing up and dragging Chanyeol out with him as Kyungsoo stands and follow the other two out of the apartment into Chanyeol and his’ next door.

 

“You know I didn’t take a few hours off of my thesis writing time searching for exam sheets online for you  _ not _ to pass the exam right?” Minseok growls, his voice too low that it makes Baekhyun drags his ass a little further from the former. A mad and pissed off Minseok is really someone you would never want to encounter under the worst circumstance. Baekhyun looks up from his bowl, careful not to look at the elder straight in the eye, checking his expression to make sure Minseok isn’t too mad.

 

“But hyung... It’s just really hard,” Baekhyun drawls, his bottom lip jutting out as he pouts unconsciously. Minseok’s expression is getting darker and unreadable. Baekhyun gulps before continuing with a defeated sigh, knowing he doesn’t really have any other option, “...I’ll study and pass the replacement exam.”

 

“Finish your food and clean up the table,” is all Minseok says before standing up, picking the empty bowls left by the other three and his own to the sink. Though a little surprised that Minseok doesn’t nag any longer like he would usually, Baekhyun nods obediently before going back to stuff himself with the last bits of samgyeopsal.

 

From where he is sitting, Baekhyun can hear clearly Minseok nagging in the kitchen about how he is the backbone of the house and they will never be able to do anything right if he dies. He just sounds so much like Baekhyun’s own mother, or probably any other mother in the world.

 

Stacking up the empty plates and pot together, Baekhyun brings them to the sink in the kitchen where Minseok is still nagging about having to babysit four overgrown boys on top of finishing his master degree. In usual occasion, Baekhyun would tell Minseok to  _ deal with it, my mom pays you with delicious kimchis every month _ ; but he knows better than to piss off the already seething man. So he just put the empty plates quietly in the sink as Minseok shot him a glare, making him shuffle out of the kitchen, scurrying right into his room to freshen up himself before going over to their neighbour’s house for their movie marathon.

 

///

 

The five boys are scattered all over the living room in Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s place; cans of beer on the table, a sad romance playing on the wall, coming from a projector their giant friend had gotten from his announcer sister. Aside from Chanyeol who always have a soft, really  _ really  _ soft spot for anything melancholic, none of them actually pays that much attention on the movie.

 

Kyungsoo is leaning on the worn out sofa, reading something from his phone while Minseok is typing out his thesis on the sofa, casually looking up from his laptop screen to catch a few scenes from the movie. Jongdae is almost buzzing off on the floor beside Chanyeol, mumbling how the story isn’t his style. Baekhyun, sitting on the sofa with a respectable distance beside Minseok isn’t asleep or anything but he still seems so off to be paying attention on the movie, letting out inaudible sighs occasionally even as he sips on his beer.

 

It is hard for him still, to accept the fact that he couldn’t join them on the spring vacation they had been planning in so long. After all, it had been his plan to go on a vacation as five, since Minseok is graduating soon and probably wouldn’t have time to spend with them after he starts working. Another reason is because they were planning to go to Kangwon-do Yanggu, to visit Baekhyun’s grandparents whom he hadn’t seen in so long since his parents decided to send him out to a university in the city. Growing up under the care of the elders, Baekhyun have a really deep bond with them, sometimes even saying how he missed his grandparents more than his parents. 

 

Kyungsoo nudges Minseok’s leg from where he is sitting, nodding to where Baekhyun is slumped, watching the movie with a sullen expression. Minseok paused his typing to look at the boy, feeling his heart soften a little at the sight of the small boy in a large t-shirt, looking so fluffy with his hair down and the twinkle of lights coming from the reflection of the movie in his eyes.

 

Minseok sighs, he isn’t really that mad that Baekhyun failed his paper, nor is he mad that the younger actually did disturbed him when he was doing an important assignment. Well, maybe he does, a little. He is just a little frustrated for the boy had to be excluded from the vacation they’ve planned in so long. 

 

He knows how much Baekhyun had wanted to see his grandparents, knows how much this trip would meant to him, hence why they agreed to spend their semester break with the elders. And now that Baekhyun couldn’t join them, they couldn’t just change their plan since they had promised his grandparents they’d come during the semester break, it totally wouldn’t be nice to break a promise towards the elders. So the visit will be just them without the precious grandson it seems.

 

“Hey, Baek,” Minseok starts, his laptop already on sleep mode. The said boy hums in acknowledgement, still watching the movie absentmindedly. Minseok shut his laptop, passing it to Kyungsoo to put it on the floor, not planning to continue his work anymore for the night. “I’m not mad at you, you know?” he asks with a little grimace, it’s always harder to admit that you’re not mad than saying that you are, indeed, mad.

 

“I know,” they younger says softly, his eyes now casted down, twirling the can of beer in his hand. Yeah, Baekhyun knows he’s not mad. After all, they’ve known each other for years, with their family being closed to each other and all. Minseok knows Baekhyun, and vice versa. Minseok would never, ever get mad over something so trivial, especially not at Baekhyun. Unlike Baekhyun’s family that is always open in showing their love and care, Minseok’s is a little composed, though not in a bad way.

 

Now that he knows Baekhyun is upset of not being able to see his grandparents, and not because of him, Minseok let out a sigh of relief, so quiet that it can’t be heard by anyone but himself. He is about to say something when Kyungsoo beats him to it, his voice lowered as to not disturb Chanyeol and his soft moment (the boy is sobbing in his spot.) “It’s okay, I won’t be joining them too. I’m staying here the whole break. Got a replacement class as well, if that makes you feel better.”

 

Both Minseok and Baekhyun perks in their sit at that;  _ Kyungsoo? Replacement class? How is that possible? _ The boy is always on the Dean’s list; he’s like the Gordon Ramsay of his batch, they always say as a joke. As if understanding the two exchanging questioning glance, Kyungsoo grins, his lips forming the shape of a heart. “Idiot. I was offered to assist Chef Kim because his TA is away all spring, and I’m going to get paid for it,” he says, his heart-shaped grin slowly turning into a smirk, causing both Minseok and Baekhyun to scoff.

 

“Well then I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about leaving him alone now. I was so worried that he might turn our house upside down or something,” Minseok says, chuckling playfully, his eyes twinkling mischievously in the dimly lit room. Baekhyun shot him a glare, whining quietly over how Minseok never trust him like he’s still a child. Well, Baekhyun’s mother had  _ indeed _ personally ask Minseok to watch over her youngest son when she left her to live with him when he started university three years ago. Baekhyun couldn’t really blame Minseok for still seeing him as the crazy kid he had first met more than a decade ago, considering how his family still babies him at his current age of 23.

 

The rest of the night goes by with them watching two more movies until Chanyeol, the one who insisted they watch movies all night starts dozing off in the middle of Dear John. Feeling more comfortable sleeping in his own bed instead of others, Minseok goes back to their apartment while Baekhyun decided to just spend the night there since Jongdae is already fast asleep beside Chanyeol on the floor.

 

///

 

A week later, semester break arrives. Although upset he couldn’t join the trip, Baekhyun still goes to the railway station with them that morning. Kyungsoo is absent from having to go to campus early in the morning to prepare for the class he’s going to assist. Chanyeol, being the one with the most empathy out of all of them wouldn’t stop giving him the sorry look, making him unsure if he should feel touched, or annoyed by it.

 

Jongdae on the other hand is excited to be visiting Baekhyun’s hometown, though he did tell Baekhyun it’s unfortunate that he couldn’t join them before going back to yelling over how excited he is to be going to the mountain camping site Baekhyun had been talking a lot about. It’s where Minseok, his late brother, and he, himself used to go to as high school kids when their family gathered for festive holidays.

 

Giving each of them a brotherly hug, Baekhyun sends them off, reminding them to pass the goods he had bought for his grandparents and to give him a video call once they reaches his grandparents’ home. As soon as they’re boarded on the train, Baekhyun returns to their apartment to freshen up before going to campus, deciding to spend the whole day there despite only having two lab sessions. It just feels a little lonelier without Jongdae practicing his vocals everywhere in the house and Minseok nagging them over their mess.

 

The first lab session is as boring as ever, though it is an achievement to Baekhyun for he manages to stay awake the whole time. Minseok is going to be proud knowing this, he sniggers to himself. At the end of the first session, it is already an hour pass noon. He receives a text from Kyungsoo, asking for his whereabouts. He types out a reply as he walks out of his department to go get Kyungsoo in his block, telling his neighbour to wait for him at the cafeteria to have lunch together.

 

Just as his destination is in sight, his phone vibrates, signalling a video call from Minseok’s number. He bounces a little in his steps, delighted to be able to see his grandparents again. Minseok’s gummy smile greets him as he answers the call, Chanyeol and Jongdae shouting hello from the far back as they’re having fun playing with his family’s fluffy corgi, Mongryong. Minseok then passes his phone to his grandfather before going off to play with Mongryong as well, giving them a little privacy.

 

Without looking, Baekhyun walks blindly towards where Kyungsoo’s voice is calling for him, sitting hastily as he greet his grandfather. They talk for a while before the old man calls his wife over. Baekhyun giggles like the little baby Byun that he is, seeing his grandmother squealing at the mention of his name from afar. The old lady leaves whatever work she’s doing to talk to Baekhyun through the call.

 

Kyungsoo moves over from his seat to sit beside Baekhyun, saying hello to his neighbour’s grandmother, apologizing that he couldn’t join the other boys to be there. He then goes to buy lunch for the both of them, already knowing Baekhyun’s favorite lunch set from the menu.

 

“Grandma, do you get my presents?” he asks, grinning so wide that it forms the shape of a rectangle, mirroring the one his grandmother is wearing.

 

“Aw yes, sweetheart. I love it so much. Your grandpa seems to like his new pants as well,” the lady laughs as she turns the device to show him. Baekhyun laughs watching his grandfather turning here and there in front of the mirror, posing in the new slacks he had gotten for him. His grandmother turns the phone again, this time looking a little more melancholic as she talks to her precious grandson through the small device. He knows she had missed him a lot more than he does, his heart swells when his grandmother starts to coo at him like she always does when he was a child.

 

“My baby, my little baby,” she coos, sniffling a little. Baekhyun sighs in endearment, trying not to cry. He doesn’t even care if people is looking, judging him. His grandmother then talks about how good it’d be if he is able to come back too, complaining that he grows up too fast that he doesn’t even have time to visit his grandparents anymore.

 

Kyungsoo then comes back with Baekhyun’s tray of food before leaving again to get his. The video call lasts all through lunch break, him conversing with the old lady, exchanging stories while she watches him eat his lunch through the screen. The call ends with Baekhyun promising to go back as soon as he can. He reminds his grandparents to take care of their health and to wait for him until he goes back.

 

“What time do you end today?” Kyungsoo asks, taking a sip of water as he, too, has finished eating. Baekhyun pockets his phone as he tries to remember his schedule for the day.

 

“Around 6:30 if Choi is being nice,” he says, rolling his eyes at the mention of his lecturer, reminded of that one time their class were extended for more than two hours because some of them, Baekhyun included, did so badly in their weekly quiz. Kyungsoo nods, telling him he’d be in Kitchen 3 if Baekhyun finishes early because he only finishes at 8:30 pm, and that they can straightaway have dinner afterwards.

 

Baekhyun’s second lab session goes surprisingly well with him understanding the topic better now that it’s been his second time learning it. The class ends early at a quarter past five. Baekhyun is more than happy to flee out of the lab. He sends a quick text to Kyungsoo telling him that he’ll be heading towards the Culinary Department now that he’s left with nothing to do. Prof Choi has been in a great mood all day for he doesn’t know what reason, he dismissed them without any assignments and Baekhyun is more than thankful for that.

 

Arriving in front of the kitchen Kyungsoo said he’ll be in, Baekhyun sits on the nearest bench lazily, waiting for his friend to come out. He is just scrolling down his Instagram, leaving a series of comments on Jongdae’s update with Mongryong when Kyungsoo comes out half an hour later, wearing a kitchen hat, making his bald head appears funnier. Baekhyun chortles on the bench, clutching his stomach as he laughs to which Kyungsoo just return with a tired roll of his eyes. Ignoring him, Kyungsoo sits beside him, stretching his legs to the front, tired from standing for too long.

 

“God I’m so sorry,” he continues laughing like a mad man, for this being the first time he is seeing Kyungsoo in his practical uniform. A few students passing by is looking at him weirdly, some even glaring at his loud ass cackles but in all honesty, none of that matters. He doesn’t care. Kyungsoo is looking like an egg chef, an angry egg chef;  _ what can be funnier than that? _ He whips out his phone and open the camera application, taking pictures of the said friend for his personal collection, though all of them are just blurry and shaky pictures due to his unstoppable laughter.

 

“Done?” Kyungsoo asked flatly, not really in the mood to talk some sense into the IT student’s head. There is really no point, Baekhyun will only stop for a while and then continues his antics like there’s no tomorrow. This time is only bearable because it is only Baekhyun alone without any sort of combined forces of Jongdae and Chanyeol. If the other two were there, he’d probably lose his damn mind as well.

 

He really wonders how Minseok even live with the two annoying pranksters, Baekhyun and Jongdae are pretty much a pain in the butt when they were together, totally uncontrollable unlike Chanyeol who cowers under just a few seconds of his death glare. But then, maybe, the two acts differently when it is only them and the master student.

 

Baekhyun nods, still struggling to catch his breath from laughing too hard. He let out a huge chunk of air, leaning on his shorter friend’s shoulder, finally feeling the fatigue coming on to him. His stomach growls, loud enough for Kyungsoo to look at him judgingly because it hasn’t been four hours since they ate their lunch, and Baekhyun had a whole plate of donkatsu for the love of God! He nudges Baekhyun’s head with his shoulder, telling the boy to get up before he stands up as well, getting ready to go back into the kitchen.

 

“Chef Kim left the rest of the class for me till tonight, do you want to come in or do you want to go eat somewhere else till I finish?” he asked as he straightens his apron, dusting off some visible patches of flour on the black fabric. Baekhyun stares into the distance, tapping his finger on his chin, pretending to be thinking of something deep.

 

“What kind of pastries are you making today?” Baekhyun asked, guessed instead; the twinkle in his eyes screaming trouble. Kyungsoo eyes him warily from the top of his ash brown hair to the tip of his Balenciaga sports. “No savoury dishes requires too much flour for it to create a whole patch of snow on your pants, man,” he says, and Kyungsoo’s lack of response just proves that he’s totally right. “You really think I’m an idiot?” Baekhyun scoffs offendedly before the frown he wears morph into a proud grin, standing up as well.

 

“Let’s go,” he steps away first, heading towards the white door with a big ‘KITCHEN 3: CAKES, PASTRIES, DESSERT’ written on the sign above the small window. He waits for Kyungsoo to catch up with his fast pace, peeking through the window while he does so. His bald friend pulls the door open, surprising him as he almost slam the door in his face. Kyungsoo enters the kitchen without a word with Baekhyun trailing behind him like a little puppy waiting for his treat.

 

The pleasant aroma of vanilla extract fills his nose the moment he steps in, making him moan quietly as he look all over the busy kitchen. There are quite a number of students in the room divided into a few groups of four, all of them moving about like bees all over the kitchen. Kyungsoo gestures for Baekhyun to put his bag in the locker near the door where they came from before going off to observe the work of his students. 

 

Baekhyun does as he was told, going over to one locker where he spots Kyungsoo’s keychain hanging on the door. Opening the locker, he tries to fit his annoyingly huge backpack inside the small compartment, letting out quiet grunts as he does so. His observant eyes twinkle when they spot another set of apron and kitchen hat folded neatly beside Kyungsoo’s bag in the locker. 

 

Checking that it is clean to use, Baekhyun take them out, putting his backpack inside. He puts the hat on his head and ties the apron on his waist carelessly, simply excited over the thought of annoying Kyungsoo in them. He shuts the locker and pad over to where Kyungsoo is helping a student to weigh her ingredient. He stifles a laugh, still couldn’t get the image of the shorter guy being an angry egg chef out of his head, especially not when his friend is looking all serious with his signature furrowed brows eyeing the weigh scale.

 

“Hey Egg Soo! What are you doing?” he asks, leaning his hips on the table with an annoyingly wide grin painting his face. The students around the table stares at him, probably wondering who the hell is this messy guy intruding their class. But Baekhyun, being Baekhyun, he just like to think that they find him cute, because that’s what he is; the (self-proclaim) cute guy from the IT department.

 

Kyungsoo looks up from his task at hand to glare at him. The guy explains a little more about whatever it is Baekhyun couldn’t quite understand before turning to face him. Kyungsoo eyes him, the hat on his head and the apron tied loosely on his waist.

 

“Where did you get those?” he questions, and from the sound of it, it seems like he kind of got a clue on the answer Baekhyun’s going to give. “Your locker, duh,” the guy answers with a playful roll of his eyes, just as expected. Kyungsoo sighs tiredly, resting his hands on his waist like a mother about to nag her children.

 

“Those are Chef Kim’s,” he sighs. The guy then turn towards the students watching them, giving them quite a serious look before saying in his signature low voice, “none of you will tell the Chef about this; Baekhyun, the uniform, anything, you get me?” A few moment of silence pass before the students simply nods at their senior’s warning and goes back to finishing their tasks, though some of them are still staring at Baekhyun.

 

Kyungsoo then proceeds to fix the apron on his friend’s waist, telling the boy to wear his kitchen hat properly all the while ignoring Baekhyun’s teasing on how he have such an effect towards the students, saying something about ‘Scary Senior Soo’ or something, he doesn’t care.

 

“We’re making cream puffs today, the group behind have already done a few batches. You can help me by tasting them, can you? I need to evaluate each of them before they’re free to be dismissed,” he says, heading over to the said group while Baekhyun trails behind, excited at the mention of the sweet, creamy pastries. He sends a few of the girls eyeing him a flirty wink, smirking when he sees them swooning over it, feeling so much like the playboys he’s seen in dramas.

 

The strong, sweet aroma of battered cream hits him and his stomach growls louder, crying to be fed as he watches the students piping the cream into the puffs, in awe as this is his first time seeing how the pastry is made. Kyungsoo hands him a puff to taste, the fluffy pastry so soft and warm that it doesn’t take him more than a second to pop it into his watering mouth. 

 

“Mmmmhhm sho good!” he moans in delight, his eyes widening to emphasize his comment. Kyungsoo hums as he gives him another puff from a different batch, this time tasting one for himself, biting in only a small bite unlike Baekhyun who really only eats to fill his stomach. Baekhyun moans again, giving a double thumbs up towards the students making them grin proudly, happy to have an outsider complimenting their bakes. Although, their senior have a different opinion for them. The said guy has his brows furrowed as he squish the remaining puff in his hand, frowning. 

 

“Too much flour, and the cream isn’t thick enough, do it again,” he says before going over to observe another group. Baekhyun shakes his head disapprovingly towards the back of his friend, popping another puff into his mouth as he gives one student an encouraging pat after seeing how their shoulders visibly flattened at the comment.

 

“You’re so mean, like Prof Choi,” he states, padding over to where Kyungsoo is helping a student taking out a tray of baked puffs from the oven. Some students nods in agreement, feeling a sense of courage now that there’s someone who understands their distress.

 

“That’s not even a half of how mean Chef Kim is, they’re fortunate he doesn’t take evening classes,” Kyungsoo scoffs while taking one puff and squishing it, nodding in approval. Baekhyun shrugs, grabbing a few from the tray as well, eating them like he owns the place. He eyes his friend helping the student piping the cream into the new set of puffs when an idea pops in his head. He bounces in his spot giddily, calling the other to get his attention.

 

“Can I try? It seems fun to do,” Baekhyun asks, his bottom lip jutting out and he have those puppy eyes, the ones that usually works on getting Minseok to do him a favor. But Kyungsoo, despite having known him for nearly three years, is still a tough one to break. The said guy ignores him, moving on instead towards another group on the other side of the kitchen. Grabbing two more pieces of the pastries, Baekhyun whines as he follows the other, calling him names.

 

Kyungsoo continues to ignore the loud boy, not even once affected by him until Baekhyun practically shouts, calling him a  _ mean egg, _ causing almost the entire class to erupt with laughter. They only stop when Kyungsoo stops to stare at his friend dead in the eyes while the puppy-like boy challenges him with a mocking frown, one that says “your glares doesn’t affect me, what are you going to do about that?” A few seconds pass by with the two best friends exchanging glares until Kyungsoo breaks the eye-contact, holding himself back from smiling because really, Baekhyun always have a way to get what he wants, from whoever he wants (maybe except Prof Choi.)

 

The pastry class is finally over at a quarter to eight, with Baekhyun bringing back home a dozen of the fluffy puffs he made himself with the help of Kyungsoo and a few of the students. He even made a couple of new friends after finding out that they plays Overwatch as well, already making plans to have a battle someday. Arriving at their apartment complex half an hour after, Kyungsoo tells him to come over for dinner after he’s done freshen up.

 

Just as told, Baekhyun goes straight to his neighbour’s house, not forgetting the cream puffs with him. Kyungsoo is in the kitchen when he enters, already in his pajamas, making fried rice for two. Baekhyun makes himself at home, like he always does; turning on the TV as he tries to find a comfortable spot on the navy blue sofa. He ends up with his usual lazy position with a box of pastries on his lap. Whipping out his phone and opening the camera application, he snaps a few pictures and sends them to their group chat, bragging that he made the best cream puffs on the first try to which Jongdae immediately replies with a mocking emoji. He scoffs, trust Jongdae to ruin his moment every time.

 

He is typing a reply to the guy when Kyungsoo enters from the kitchen with their dinner, stopping the banter from happening. Baekhyun tosses his phone aside and slides down the sofa to sit on the floor with the other. Kyungsoo is already eating from the fry-pan, not even bothering to serve them in plates considering that it is only the two of them sharing the meal. He is browsing through the TV channels, finding a good show to watch when Baekhyun speaks up.

 

“Will you be supervising the evening classes alone every day?” he asks with his mouth full. Kyungsoo hums, his attention on the TV. “Why?” he returns the question, although he kind of already got the gist of why Baekhyun is asking such question, but he doesn’t say it out loud, not wanting to jinx it.

 

“Oh, nothing,” Baekhyun shrugs as he continues eating, making the other frown, looking at him suspiciously. Baekhyun grins sheepishly. “The class was fun, cooking seems fun,” he starts, his voice quiet. Kyungsoo stares at him, waiting for him to finish.

 

“I’m just wondering if I can... join you. I won’t distract the class, I promise! I just,” he bites his lips, fidgeting in his spot when Kyungsoo doesn’t give any respond. The guy raises a brow questioningly, just  _ what? _ Baekhyun rubs the back of his neck, seemingly unsure if he should even say it.

 

“It just seems fun, and I don’t even have anything to do while waiting for you so I think, I might as well just learn from you?” he finishes slowly with a little pout. Kyungsoo eyes him quietly, warily, searching for the truth behind his reasons, still quite suspicious of him. They continues to eat in silence, both of them not saying anything which is pretty normal for Kyungsoo for he isn’t one with many things to say but it is a little strange for Baekhyun to be this quiet. The culinary student sighs quietly, putting his spoon aside, leaving the rest of the meal for Baekhyun to finish.

 

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but okay, you can,” he finally answers, his eyes not looking at the beaming male beside him. Before Baekhyun even have the idea to lounge at him like an excited puppy being rewarded with treats, he fixes a look on the boy, a look that can be perceived as both a warning and a plead. “But promise me, you’ll behave?” he asks carefully. Baekhyun nods excitedly, gone were the uncertainty that was surely there just a moment ago. Kyungsoo scoffs inwardly, partly cursing himself for falling into Baekhyun’s trick into getting what he wants  _ again. _

 

So the rest of the next few weeks goes by with the same routine; Baekhyun barging in the mornings for breakfast before they both leave for their classes at the same time. They skip having lunch together on Wednesdays and Thursdays because their schedules doesn’t match on those days, but on days that they have the same period for lunch, they eat together. On the evenings that Baekhyun is dismissed early from Prof Choi’s class, he will quickly go to Kyungsoo’s class, joining him and the rest of the students which have grown familiar with his presence in the kitchen.

Baekhyun pays more attention in Prof Choi’s classes now in order to do well in the coming exam, doing more coding revisions than playing games till he forgot the time. It also helps that Minseok keeps checking on him while he is enjoying his vacation, making sure that Baekhyun doesn’t go far away from what he’s promised to the elder. He is also doing pretty okay in the kitchen, though it is all thanks to Kyungsoo for always salvaging his poor, unskilled ass.

 

It has been three weeks since the start of their semester break; his replacement class is coming to its end with his exam waiting for him on the week after. Minseok, Jongdae and Chanyeol are coming back from their vacation as well, bringing with them a lot of foods and gifts from his grandparents. Baekhyun has been more than ecstatic to have the three of his friends back, his days has been so quiet without them. Kyungsoo looks a bit offended when he heard that but Baekhyun quickly reasons that it is because the former is too quiet for his liking; to which the shorter returns with a hard smack in the head, causing Baekhyun to groan, muttering curses under his breath.

 

“Soo,” he calls right after Kyungsoo dismisses his class on Thursday. The culinary student is folding both of their aprons and keeps them neatly in the locker (because Baekhyun just really couldn’t do anything right.) He hums in acknowledgement as he walk towards where Baekhyun is waiting for him at the door. Turning off the lamps, he steps out of the kitchen, waiting for Baekhyun to come out as well before locking the door. They walk out of the building, with Baekhyun struggling not to cling on his friend’s arm; he doesn’t really want to risk losing his arm just a night before their friends return.

 

“They’re coming back tomorrow night,” he squeals excitedly, bouncing in his steps.

 

“Yeah, so?” Kyungsoo asks, sounding so detached that if Baekhyun hadn’t known the boy, he’d be greatly offended by that. But he knows Kyungsoo, the boy has a warm heart, he’s just kind of shy. Only speaking when it’s necessary, and always emotionally composed; a total opposite of Baekhyun’s loud and clingy nature.

 

“Should I cook for them? As a surprise, you know? None of them knows I’ve been cooking with you, they’re going to be so surprised; don’t you think so?” he asks excitedly, his fluffy hair bouncing along with his steps. Kyungsoo stops in his track, looking at him with something akin to disbelief in his eyes. Like is this boy for real? He scoffs, continuing his pace.

 

“Cooking with me, my ass. More like doing only the easy stuffs and whining for me to do the rest,” he says, walking faster towards the bus stop, ignoring whatever Baekhyun has to say, or whine about that.

 

“Why are you so mean to me?” the boy pouts. “I know how to cook just fine, okay! I’ve seen how you do it in the class, and I’ve seen Minseok cooks a lot too, I can cook for them!” he defends himself, crossing his arm to emphasize his point, the frown on his face making him look like a child whose candy had just been stolen. It is fortunate that there are no other people at the bus stop, or Kyungsoo might die from embarrassment from how childish his friend is being. Baekhyun is about to whine even more, looking at the way he angrily uncrosses his arms, the scowl obvious on his face when the bus arrives.

 

Kyungsoo boards the bus quickly, not wanting associate with the whiny guy. But Baekhyun isn’t named as Byun Fast just for the fun of it; before Kyungsoo even gets to it, he scans his transportation card before leaving to get a seat, not before muttering “Shorty” towards the latter as he does so. Kyungsoo shakes his head, if he is amused, he doesn’t show it. He goes towards where Baekhyun is sitting, scowling at the window. Kyungsoo sits behind him when he sees that the seat beside the sulky boy is already occupied by his backpack.

 

Arriving at their stop, Baekhyun got off quickly, not even waiting for Kyungsoo like he usually does; walking away as quick as he can. Kyungsoo lets him, simply because he is tired himself. He walks at his usual pace towards their apartment complex located just right by the corner. He sees Baekhyun in front of the elevator, waiting for the moving box to arrive, humming a song he doesn’t recognize. He stands beside him, eyeing him in amusement when the boy refuses to even look at his direction.

 

When the elevator dings, they both waits for the old lady leaving just above their units to get off before getting in themselves with Baekhyun standing far behind at the corner. Kyungsoo presses the button to their floor, turning to look at the scowling guy as he lean against the wall of the elevator.

 

“Why do you want to cook for them so much?” he asks, the hidden amusement behind his question didn’t go unnoticed. Baekhyun drags his eyes away from the Very Fascinating Display Screen to glance at Kyungsoo, he scoffs, offended when he sees the guy looking at him as if he is looking at a child. He rolls his eyes to which his friend returns with a quiet chuckle. The elevator dings, signalling that they have arrived at their floor. Kyungsoo holds the door open as he lets the other go out first before following behind him.

 

“Okay, okay, cook for them,” he says while keying in his passcode. “But I’m not helping you,” he mutters then, loud enough for Baekhyun to hear. From the side of his eyes, he can see the obvious stop in the other’s movement. He turns to look at Baekhyun, now grinning at him with some kind of twinkle in his eyes that only ever shows when the boy gets what he wants. He briefly wonders how it is so easy and quick for the boy to change his emotion when he was just scowling and frowning just a few seconds ago.

 

“Right? I should do it right?” Baekhyun states excitedly, almost bouncing. Kyungsoo hums, opening his door. Baekhyun literally jumps to stand beside him, not even thinking as he clings to his arm, surprising him. He raises his brows as he look at the boy beside him with a grin so bright it’s nearly blinding. Instead of going back to his own apartment, he pushes his neighbour into his own. Kyungsoo doesn’t even get to ask what he’s doing when Baekhyun plops himself onto his favorite spot on their sofa. The boy gets his phone out from the pocket of his hoodie, the grin is still etched on his face.

 

Kyungsoo goes into his room, putting his bag when Baekhyun shouts from where he is sitting in the living room. He is asking if he should cook galbi or a simple bulgogi for the others, before stopping himself when he realises he doesn’t have enough cash to buy beef. Kyungsoo is all changed out from his previous clothes, stepping out of his room in his black tracksuit. 

 

He goes into the kitchen, searching for instant rice in the cupboard to cook. Seeing that he’s got no more stock of it, he reaches instead for three packets of ramyeon. He waits for the water in the pot to boil, getting out other ingredients to put in the ramyeon. Baekhyun then comes into the kitchen, leaning his hips on the sink as he watches his neighbour prepares the ingredient expertly, as expected from a culinary prodigy.

 

“Oh hey, what do you think if I make fish soup for them? It is easy to make right?” he asks as he scrolls down the recipe page in his phone, stopping every now and then to read the recipe of certain dishes he thinks is easy to make. The water boils when Kyungsoo has done cutting all of the ingredients. He walks past Baekhyun to pour the three packets of ramyeon’s seasonings into the boiling water, stirring it for a while before dumping the cleanly cut fishcakes into it. 

 

“You still have a lot of kimchi in your fridge right?” he asks instead of answering Baekhyun’s previous questions, this time putting the three ramyeons into the broth.

 

“Yeah, my mom gave us a lot of them last month,” Baekhyun says, pocketing his phone and peers over to look at the noodles in the pot. Kyungsoo nods. He then pours the vegetables into the broth when he sees that the noodles have soften a little. Waiting for a while more until the meal is fully cooked, he turns off the stove and brings the pot onto the table, placing it carefully on top of the folded kitchen cloth. He gestures for Baekhyun to sit and start eating as he opens his fridge to take out two cans of beer.

 

Baekhyun happily obeys, fetching two sets of chopsticks and spoons for the two of them. Taking in the luscious smell of instant curry, he thank Kyungsoo for the food and starts by tasting the soup, coughing when the hotness of the broth burn his tongue but nonetheless gives Kyungsoo a thumb up. Kyungsoo clucks his tongue at Baekhyun’s clumsiness. Pouring water from the pitcher into a glass, he gives it to Baekhyun, telling the boy to slow down a little because there’s a lot of noodles for the both of them to share. When Baekhyun has calm down from his fit, Kyungsoo starts eating, remembering to eat slowly as the meal is still hot.

 

“Just make them kimchi fried rice, it’s an easier recipe for a beginner like you,” he suggests after a while, opening a can of beer. Baekhyun looks up from where he is slurping his noodles.

 

“I can’t believe you think that lowly of me,” he states, feeling a little offended, though it is just for show.

 

“Baekhyun, measuring water to cook ramyeon doesn’t count as highly skillful,” Kyungsoo deadpans, ignoring the half-hearted glare coming from the boy in front of him. “Besides, what’s wrong with making them kimchi fried rice? You have all the ingredients in your place, it’s easier than having to go down the supermarket to buy more ingredients and make something you totally have no idea how to only to burn your whole kitchen down in the process.”

 

“You’re going to help me anyway, so my kitchen is safe,” he shrugs, resuming to eat his noodles. Just like that, it is decided that Baekhyun is going to cook kimchi fried rice for the boys when they return from their long vacation later.

 

///

 

It is 6 in the evening on Friday. Baekhyun excuses himself early from his class after telling his professor a poorly made up lies on how one of his close relatives got into a fatal accident and he have to go give his last words to the pour (non-existent) soul. The old man look genuinely concerned when he let Baekhyun leaves, telling him to be safe on his way. Baekhyun snickers once he has gotten far enough from his department block, texting Kyungsoo that he will be going home first to prepare the ingredients.

 

After going through half an hour long of traffic on the bus, he reaches his stop. Instead of taking his usual route, he walks to the other side of the street, wanting to buy some extra ingredients to add that extra points to his cooking. He also buys some snacks and instant rice to stock up at home. He receives a reply from Kyungsoo on his way back from the supermarket, telling him to  _ only prepare, don’t go near the stove until I got home, I’m only a stop away from home. _

 

Baekhyun scoffs a little, smiling lopsidedly as he replies with a suspicious looking emoji, inwardly challenging Kyungsoo to try his guts. Arriving at home, he puts down the stuffs he bought at the supermarket beside the fridge before going into his room to change into a more comfortable clothes. He is getting meat and some vegetables out of the plastic bags when the sound of someone keying in the passcode to his home is heard. He pays no attention to it as he recognizes the way the person opening and closing the door as the same way Kyungsoo does.

 

True to his intuition, the said male walks past the kitchen to leave his bag on the small couch in the living room. He take off his jacket, leaving him in only a black t-shirt and his jeans. Baekhyun calls for him from the kitchen, coming out a seconds later with two cups of instant rice in hand. “Is this enough for all of us?”

 

Kyungsoo contemplates for a while before telling Baekhyun to add one more cup because no one can really predict how much they’re all going to eat, especially after he got a text from Chanyeol telling him that they went for a little hike with Baekhyun’s grandfather in the morning. Baekhyun mutters a quiet okay before going back into the kitchen, Kyungsoo enters a while later after he has tossed his jacket near where his bag is lying.

 

He tells Baekhyun to wash and cut the chicken as he prepares the vegetables. Done cutting the vegetables, he take over Baekhyun’s task after seeing the other struggling to cut the chicken into edible sizes. Baekhyun then takes it upon himself to heat up the pan, adding some vegetable oil as Kyungsoo tells him to stir fry enough amount of kimchi. The shorter then tell him to prepare the rice as he adds chicken meat into the pan, stirring it until it is cooked before instructing Baekhyun to do the rest of the cooking as he observes from behind. After all, Baekhyun has been the one that insisted on cooking for their dinner.

 

He is replying to their group chat while he watches the other, sending them a picture of Baekhyun cooking to which Jongdae replies with a dead emoji. He smiles when Minseok jokingly says he  _ doesn’t feel like going home now _ before adding a selfie of the three of them looking lethargic in a cab. He keeps his phone in his pocket, informing Baekhyun that the others are already on their way back, “They will probably be here in an hour or so.”

 

Baekhyun perks, saying how he couldn’t wait to let them taste his first decent meal. Once the rice is done, the both of them prepares the table before Kyungsoo goes back to his own unit to freshen up. Baekhyun goes to shower as well. He then sits at the table, taking pictures of the dinner he made; posting it on instagram and tagging the other three with the caption  _ ‘come back faster, the food is getting cold!’ _ Kyungsoo enters after a moment, freshly showered and settling next to Baekhyun. Taking the remote controller, he turns on the TV, watching a drama he’s following. Baekhyun fiddles with his phone alone, leaving unnecessary comments in Jongdae’s instagram.

 

Not more than twenty minutes later, they hear the sound of something crashing on the front door, before there’s a sound of the passcode being keyed. They both perks in their spot as the door opens to let a lethargic Jongdae inside, the boy practically throwing his bag on the floor before falling dramatically onto it. Minseok clucks his tongue, shaking his head disapprovingly at the whimpering boy. He steps in further, leaving Jongdae at the entrance, unintentionally holding the door open with his feet. Leaving his backpack and luggage outside his room, Minseok goes over to sit beside Baekhyun, all the while looking at the meal on the table.

 

Baekhyun beams at Minseok, scooping the rice into Minseok’s bowl before giving it to the elder. Minseok eyes the younger warily, his eyes glancing constantly between the bowl of rice and Baekhyun before looking over at Kyungsoo with a raised eyebrow. Kyungsoo simply shrugs, a hint of playful smile hidden behind his poker demeanour. “He said he’s confident in this,” he says.

 

Minseok puts the bowl on the table, waiting for Chanyeol to come after putting his stuff in his place. Dragging Jongdae to put his bag near Minseok’s, they both sit down at the table, completing the reunion. Kyungsoo scoops some rice into each of their bowl, making sure each of them gets the same amount of meal.

 

“Ahh, I’m still full! Baekhyun’s grandmother feed me too much today, I can’t eat anymore,” Jongdae whines, but still takes the bowl with a spoon ready in his hand. Chanyeol pats his back before agreeing that Baekhyun’s grandmother indeed fed them a lot that day after they came back from hiking with her husband.

 

“Hyung, come on! Taste it,” Baekhyun chirps, looking at Minseok expectantly, all of them does. The male picks up his spoon and take half a spoon of the rice, tasting it. It doesn’t taste as bad as he’d expected, and he shows it by humming in appreciation, nodding to tell Baekhyun that it tastes good! Jongdae visibly sighs, letting out a breath he doesn’t even know he’s been holding. 

 

Baekhyun claps his hands in victory, extremely happy that his first meal doesn’t turn out disastrous like Kyungsoo told him it’d be. Kyungsoo on the other hand, sighs in relief. Most of what Baekhyun made in his classes had indeed turn out tasting like shit and they will only come out nice if Kyungsoo was there. This time is no different, Baekhyun most probably wouldn’t be able to pull this off without his help but the rest of them doesn’t need to know that.

 

They have their dinner merrily, with Jongdae and Chanyeol recounting their activities at Baekhyun’s hometown for three weeks, Minseok chirping in here and there. Baekhyun feels bitter internally because he, too wants to spend his break with his grandparents; being fed by his grandmother after hiking with his grandfather, and Mongryong, he misses the fluffy being so much. Minseok puts his hand on Baekhyun’s thigh, rubbing softly to calm the younger down every time he sees the boy frowning at the mention of his hometown.

 

After finishing the dinner, Minseok helps Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to clean up, unable to trust the boys to do it themselves with Baekhyun around even though he can totally count on Kyungsoo to do it in his place. Chanyeol has gone back to his unit, while Jongdae has gone to wash up and sleep, exhausted as ever. Kyungsoo has gone back to his home as well after the table is clean, leaving the dishwashing task to the remaining two. As Minseok is watching Baekhyun wash the dishes, he asks him what made him want to learn cooking so suddenly when he used to give a whole ten pages of excuses whenever Minseok asks for a little help around the kitchen.

 

“I don’t know,” the male shrugs. “When I join Kyungsoo’s pastry class the first time, it seems fun to try, so I did. And then I feel like doing it again, it’s kind of addictive. You know, when you do something and it works, you just want to do it again and again. It kind of feels like that to me,” he explains with a smile.

 

“Good for you, you can finally learn how to be useful in this household,” Minseok says jokingly, dodging the water sprinkles coming from the boy beside him before they laugh together. “How is your replacement class going? You’re going to retake your exam next week isn’t it?” he asks. He then goes over to the cupboard, taking out a sachet of 3in1 coffee to make a cup for him to drink tonight while he does his long overdue thesis due to the vacation.

 

Baekhyun hums, nodding as an answer. “It’s on Thursday. But I won’t have any more classes until then,” he puts the sponge aside as he has done washing everything. “You better study well this time, or I’m going to confiscate your PC,” the elder simply says before going into his room, shutting the door, leaving Baekhyun groaning alone at the kitchen.

 

///

 

“Oh God, who is this boy? Why is he in the same room with me? Where is Baekhyun? Hyuuung! Do you see Baekhyun? Byun Baekhyuuun!” Jongdae yells obnoxiously, running out of their room before his loud cackles is heard. He’s messing with Baekhyun after the boy said he can’t play games until his exam is over. Baekhyun has been studying diligently with Minseok’s help as the elder studies the same major as he is. Jongdae on the other hand, doesn’t really help much aside from whining over how Baekhyun doesn’t want to play games with him.

 

Baekhyun rolls his eyes in annoyance when the latter comes back into their room, bringing with him some chips to munch on as he decided to settle on watching a movie on his bed since Baekhyun couldn’t play with him. “Why are you suddenly so hardworking on this? Just study a little to get a pass, no need to get so into it, you’re no fun,” Jongdae says, waiting for his laptop to start. Baekhyun sighs, swivels on his chair from where he’s been working on a series of coding.

 

“Ugh, I know,” he pouts, getting up and plopping himself on Jongdae’s bed. The male with the cat-like smile offers him a chip which he gladly accepts by opening his mouth, letting his roommate feed him.

 

“Come watch a movie with me, I won’t tell. Minseok hyung hasn’t been out of his room since last night anyway,” Jongdae offers, tempting Baekhyun who is snuggling into the comfort of his blanket. Baekhyun sits up, stealing a few more chips before going back to his study desk.

 

“That’s because he has been monitoring my PC since yesterday! Look at this,” he opens a tab on his PC, showing Jongdae the messages he’s been getting from the elder. Jongdae got up from his bed, going over to look at the chatroom. He stares blankly at the messages, shaking his head as a new message pops up;  _ ‘Showing our chats to Jongdae won’t stop me. Re-check your coding. Now.’ _

 

Baekhyun groans, wanting to cry. “Dae, you’re my best friend, aren’t you? Help me out of this please?” he pleads, clasping both hands together for effect. But Jongdae, immune of any kind of Baekhyun’s cutesy acting, is having none of that. He shrugs, muttering a half-hearted  _ good luck _ before going back to start his movie marathon. Baekhyun huffs as he goes back to his PC, cursing loudly on full purpose.

 

After a few hours of scripting and checking his coding, Minseok finally lets him off to rest for a while, pausing his monitoring software. Baekhyun sighs tiredly, he stretches while still sitting on the chair, straightening his back that has been slouched over his study material. Baekhyun looks back to see that Jongdae has already fallen asleep with his laptop open. Checking the clock, he is surprised to see the digital numbers changes from 07:59 to 08:00. He has been in front of the PC for nearly 8 hours, that’s longer from when he plays his game.

 

His stomach grumbles for the nth time, he leans back on his chair for a while, contemplating between ordering take-outs or plead Minseok to cook for him. Remembering the kimchi fried rice he made on Friday, he leaves his room, deciding to cook once again. He opens the browser application on his phone, searching for the recipe online. When he has found them, he prepares the ingredients. After washing his hands, he takes a cup of instant rice from the cupboard, kimchi, gochujang and eggs from the fridge and heats up the frying pan. Recounting the tips he got from Kyungsoo, he adds enough amount of vegetable oil and then cuts the kimchi into small sizes.

 

Still following the recipe on his phone, Baekhyun opens the lid of the cup and dumps the instant rice into the pan, stirring it for a while before putting the kimchi, mixing them together with the wooden chopsticks. He grins, satisfied when he sees the rice changes in colour. He then put two tablespoon of gochujang, stirring them to mix them well. He takes a spoonful of the fried rice, squealing to himself at the taste. He is feeling so proud of himself, he’s doing well in Java and now he can even make his own fried rice?! Spectacular!

 

He transfers the rice into a plate, wiping the pan with a kitchen tissue like how he’s seen Minseok does. Putting the pan on the stove again, he turns the fire on, waiting for a while before cracking two eggs to make a double sunny side up. He turns to take another spoonful of rice, dancing a little. Minseok comes out of his room then, entering the kitchen while holding an empty mug, wanting to make another cup of coffee. Baekhyun’s eyes light up at the sight of the elder walking in an oversized hoodie, looking so comfy with his messy hair, very unlike the always clean and neat Minseok.

 

Minseok glances at the fried rice on the table before looking at his younger friend in question. Baekhyun grins proudly, “hyung! I made my own fried rice. Aren’t you proud of me?”

 

“Maybe I will be, if you’d take care of your egg in the pan,” Minseok says while washing his blue mug.

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widen, gasping when he remembers the eggs in the pan. He frantically turns off the stove, fanning off the string of smokes coming from the overly fried egg. Using his wooden chopstick, he tries to pick the edge of the egg up. He cries, the downside of the egg has burnt completely.

 

“Don’t even think of throwing it away, we can’t afford to waste anything now,” Minseok mutters as he opens the cupboard above Baekhyun to take two sachets of coffee.

 

Baekhyun huffs, half-glaring at the elder before looking back at his egg. After a few moment of thinking and realizing that it is indeed his fault for being greedy, he picks the egg and put it onto his fried rice in the plate, praying inwardly that it would at least be edible. He’s thinking of asking Minseok to eat together with him, and he does. But the elder shakes his head, raising his coffee mug and telling Baekhyun to enjoy his dinner. Minseok goes back into his room after he’s done making his coffee, leaving Baekhyun to eat alone.

 

///

 

It’s the day of the exam. Baekhyun wakes up in the morning to a pleasant smell coming from the kitchen. Stretching himself on the bed, he looks over to see that Jongdae is already awake, his bed void of the person himself. Checking the time on his phone, he sighs in relief seeing that it is only 9 in the morning, which gives him five more hours till his exam. He can hear Chanyeol and Jongdae laughing outside, probably playing console game. It is Thursday, so Kyungsoo should already be at the campus by now.

 

He steps out of his room, letting the smell he’d recognize as banana and cinnamon hits him strongly the moment he opens his door. Seeing both Chanyeol and Jongdae on the floor, playing games like he had expected, he throws himself onto the couch behind them, sprawling like an ugly starfish as he watches them shouting and laughing as they both cheats the game. Jongdae calls for Baekhyun, inviting him to join them. But Baekhyun just give them a tired groan as an answer, having no energy from being awake until 4 in the morning.

 

Minseok enters from the kitchen with a plate of warm hotteoks, putting it on the coffee table. He pats Baekhyun’s butt, telling him to move before settling beside the sleepy boy. He takes one hotteok using a fork, hovering it over Baekhyun’s face, making the younger opens his eyes in surprise before shutting them again. Instead of taking the fork, Baekhyun opens his mouth, wordlessly telling Minseok to feed him. The elder grunts, muttering under his breathe how Baekhyun really needs to stop acting like a baby and that he’s tired of babysitting him but Minseok feeds him anyway, while eating some himself.

 

“I’m going to the town later, in the evening, a classmate of mine is busking there,” Jongdae tells them as he pauses the game to take a bite of the food. Chanyeol groans, complaining that Jongdae is disturbing his rhythm to victory. Jongdae rolls his eyes, finishing the hotteok in three big bites.

 

“What time are you going?” Minseok asks, still feeding the boy beside him.

 

“Probably after 5, you wanna join me? Chanyeol? Baekhyun, your paper ends at 6 right?” Jongdae turns excitedly. Chanyeol has given up on trying to get on with the game anymore, turning around as well to face the two males on the couch. He shrugs in a  _ ‘why not’ _ style when Jongdae look at him in question, receiving a friendly kick in his shin from the latter. “That’s a true bro,” Jongdae grins, turning to look at Minseok then.

 

“Sure, we can go together. Baekhyun?” they all turn to look at the half-sleeping boy. Baekhyun opens one eye, thinking for a while before shaking his head. “I don’t think so,” the said boy sighs. “I want to catch up on sleep,” he said sleepily, leaning his head onto Minseok’s strong shoulder, shaking his head tiredly, snuggling instead into the elder’s chest when he is offered another piece of hotteok.

 

Few hours later finds Baekhyun sitting in a corridor with another students that have to retake their exams as well, checking his notes and remembering some important syntaxes for one last time before entering the hall. He checks his phone to see  _ good luck! _ messages coming from all four of his friends, making a mental note to reply them later. He locks the device as he keeps all of his notes inside his backpack, making sure he’s got all of his exam necessities before going in, praying for the odds to be in his favour.

 

The exam goes well,  _ very well. _ Leaving the exam hall, he exhales a big chunk of air, relieving the stress and worry that has been occupying his head since the start of the replacement class. As he goes to get his bag, a kind of regretful thought comes across his mind, thinking if only he had worked this hard for the actual exam, he might not have to go through all of this trouble of spending his break studying. The exhaustion seems to have gone away by now, leaving only a rush of adrenaline that comes with his excitement of being able to answer the paper well. He smiles to himself as he takes out his phone from his bag, finally replying to the messages he had received earlier. He tells them, brags to them that he did well, that they should reward him.

 

_ Grats, bro! Let’s order chicken for dinner tonight! _ – real__pcy

_ You don’t see me asking for a reward when I passed my choir audition last year lol :p _ – kjd92

_ Well done! ^^ _ \-- xiurista90

 

Baekhyun shakes his head in amusement reading the texts. He is about to type out a reply as he walk to the bus stop, when the imaginary bulb above his head lights up. It has crossed his mind for a few days since the day the three of them came back from their holiday, considering that all of them, especially Minseok and Kyungsoo, had been patiently helping and guiding him, taking care of him like their own brother, Baekhyun decides to pay them a little gratitude. Feeling a little too confident with his cooking skill, he decides to cook for them as a surprise for when they come back from their little outing later.

 

The bus arrives when he is scrolling down the website in his mobile device, searching for a fancy meal with simple enough recipe to make. By the time he reaches his stop, he has already decided on making tofu stew and kimbap. He drops by the supermarket near their apartment complex, buying the ingredients. Coming out of the store with more foods to stock up at home and less money in his bank account, he goes home with a light heart, softly humming to his favorite girl group’s song.

 

The clock struck 6:49 the moment he enters the house, making him toss his stuffs clumsily into his room before going to the kitchen. An hour and a half later finds Baekhyun carrying a pot of tofu stew to the coffee table, setting up for dinner. A number of messily wrapped kimbap is cut and served on a plate, placed beside the stew. He doesn’t forgot to cook rice as well, with the help of the internet and his blurry memory of how he’s seen Minseok does it. He doesn’t taste it but the rice smells nice and definitely look like rice, so he figures it’s well done anyway. Once he has done setting up the table, he stands, smiling proudly at his hard work.

 

He doesn’t even get to go into his room to finally wash himself when both of his housemates enter the apartment, Jongdae crying and complaining to Minseok for not letting them eat outside when he’s  _ starving. _ Baekhyun beams happily, about to greet them when Minseok stops in his track, causing Jongdae to stop whining as well. The elder eyes the kitchen in a horror, feeling his heart dropping at the sight of the messy kitchen.

 

“Whoa Byun Baekhyun, what did you do?!” Jongdae asks loudly, walking past a horrified Minseok towards the living room, still looking into the kitchen before he drags his eyes towards the table beside his friend who is now smiling sheepishly, looking a little guilty. Upon landing his eyes on the food laid on the table, he gapes, shock and surprise written all over his face.

 

“BYUN B-” Minseok’s screech is cut off by Jongdae calling for the elder.

 

“HYUNG! HE COOKED!” Baekhyun isn’t really sure if the high intensity of Jongdae’s yelling is equal to an excited scream or a terrified screech, but he’s fine with anything. So he pulls a professional smile, as elegant as he could, gesturing to the meal on the table.

 

“I cooked! As a sign of gratitude for helping me with the exam,” he says, all the while smiling while they both gape at him, the horrified look on Minseok’s face is still evident through the slight widen of his eyes.

 

Baekhyun all but pushes Jongdae to sit down, waving his hand to call Minseok over. Carefully, he pours the stew into each of their bowl, excitedly asking them to taste it. He is beaming, nearly bouncing in his spot while he waits for the two male to start eating. The twinkle in his eyes is extra bright, hoping both of his housemates would like his cooking.

 

He clasp his hands together the moment both Jongdae and Minseok picks up their spoon, the elder starts by tasting the broth. Jongdae eyes the male in front of him warily, waiting for his response. His eyebrows furrowed in a split second before he smiles widely, nodding towards the younger, wordlessly telling him to give it a taste as well. Jongdae stares at the elder suspiciously before he take a spoonful of the broth.

 

The moment the warm broth hits his taste buds, he looks up from the bowl, giving Minseok the very look of betrayal. Baekhyun clap his hands suddenly, pupils dancing, looking at both of his housemates alternately. “How is it? Hyung? Jongdae?”

 

Jongdae tries his best to swallow the broth, shutting his eyes as he takes a deep breathe, the broth too salty for his liking. He is about to give Baekhyun a piece of his mind when he feels a kick on his shin from under the table, knowing damn well who did it. He glares at the elder who is smiling all wide and innocently at the beaming boy beside them.

 

“Aw our Baekhyunnie is all grown up now,” he coos, making the said boy giggles quietly, abashed. Jongdae kicks Minseok’s leg, giving him the “what the fuck are you doing?!” look. The elder ignores him, still looking at Baekhyun with something akin to adoration. “This is good, so good! Thank you so much, Baek. Your mother is going to so proud when I tell her about this later,” he continues, Jongdae scoffing in disbelief as he watch the elder bullshitting for whatever reason he refuse to find out.

 

Baekhyun on the other hand is clapping like a seal, excited to have Minseok compliments his cooking. Jongdae forces himself to clap along, laughing insincerely. Baekhyun then stands up, telling them to finish their food before telling them that he’s going to wash up and will join them later. Jongdae nods hurriedly, ushering the boy to quickly leave them, sighing when Baekhyun shuts the door.

 

“What the hell, hyung?!” he whispers angrily, loud enough for only Minseok to hear him.

 

“What?” the elder replies with the same amount of glare. “He cooked for us to thank us, Dae. The least we can do is appreciate it.”

 

Jongdae scoffs, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Glancing at the door to their room, he stands, bringing his bowl to the kitchen. Minseok looks at him questioningly, glancing at the door before looking back at the boy, with full acknowledgement on what the other is about to do. Jongdae enters the kitchen quickly, dumping the broth in the sink, making sure to wash it away to not leave any evidence of his crime before going back to sit at the table, wearing the most innocent look he could muster. He ignores the glare coming from in front of him, whipping out his phone to text Chanyeol.

 

He tells the tall guy about what happens, warning him to not come to their house unless he brings chicken with him to which he receives a voice note of Chanyeol cackling obnoxiously as a reply. Rolling his eyes, he puts his phone beside him on the floor, watching Minseok struggling not to spit the kimbap he is eating. He snorts when the elder glares at him. Baekhyun comes out then, looking snuggly in his velvet pajamas, his bleached hair looking fluffy and bouncy as he pads towards them, smiling contently.

 

He sits beside Minseok, he eyes twinkling when he sees that Jongdae has already empties his bowl. Minseok reluctantly takes another kimbap, letting out a soft laugh that Jongdae knows very well doesn’t come from the heart when Baekhyun beams at him. He takes a slice of kimbap as well, eating it himself. Jongdae eyes him, trying not to show the grimace on his face when Baekhyun simply hums in appreciation, wondering what kind of metal is shielding his taste buds. Baekhyun offers him a slice to which he rejects awkwardly, rubbing his stomach as a sign that he is already full from the stew.  _ Lies. _ His stomach grumbles, thankfully not loud enough to reach Baekhyun’s ears. Minseok laughs quietly as he helps Baekhyun to get a bowl of stew as well.

 

Jongdae’s phone buzzes half an hour later, a text from Chanyeol popping up on the screen. He struggles to hide the smile in his face when he sees a picture of seasoned chicken attached in the message saying that he is  _ ‘coming now ;) u’d better pay me back.’ _ Just right then, Chanyeol enters their apartment with a box of chicken, Kyungsoo trailing behind with a bottle of soda.

 

“Congratulations for finally getting your semester break!” Chanyeol howls, earning a laugh from Baekhyun. “I bought chicken!” he adds, ignoring Jongdae’s waiting hands and giving the box to Baekhyun instead, congratulating him for finishing his replacement class. Kyungsoo peers over the meals on the table, glancing at Jongdae and Minseok knowingly before asking Baekhyun if he made them. Baekhyun nods proudly, telling a story on how he made it all by himself with the help of the recipes he found on the internet.

 

A few fake laughter and pats in the back later, Jongdae interrupts, asking if they want to start eating chicken now, receiving a warning glare from Minseok and a confused one from Baekhyun because he had indeed say that he’s full from the stew.

 

“Chanyeol bought it to celebrate you anyway, let’s just eat them?” he mutters quietly with an awkward smile. Baekhyun, oblivious to the awkwardness surrounding them, gladly agrees, about to put the chicken onto the table before noticing the pot of stew. He stops, placing the box on the floor, making the rest of the boys share a nervous glance. Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, a kind smile etched on his soft features. “You guys should try my stew, I made it with all of you in my mind!” he offers, already about to stand to get them new set of bowls when Minseok stops him.

 

“They can try this later, the stew has gone cold anyway,” the elder fakes a frown, his nose scrunched cutely. “Let’s eat the chicken while it’s still hot. I’ll go heat this up in the meantime, okay?” Minseok asks with a soft smile. Baekhyun contemplates for a second before agreeing with the elder. They heave a quiet sigh, relieved. Chanyeol takes a seat beside Jongdae, bumping their shoulders playfully. Kyungsoo makes an excuse to follow Minseok into the kitchen, stopping outside when he sees the mess. Minseok put the stew on the stove, turning to look at Kyungsoo with a tired sigh. He massages his temple with one hand, eyeing the mess in the sink, on the floor, the splattered broth on the wall. 

 

“...are you going to tell him to clean this up?” Kyungsoo questions as he opens their cupboard to get four plastic cups. Still massaging his temple, Minseok nods solemnly. “Later, after he’s done eating. For now, I guess we need to fix his stew first,” he murmurs only for his neighbour to hear. The said guy agrees, putting the plastic cups in his hand back into the cupboard before he goes over to taste the broth as per asked by Minseok. He raises his eyebrow at the taste, looking at Minseok in slight shock and disbelief. Minseok nods blankly, looking like he’s given up on his life.

 

“No wonder Jongdae said he’s about to die,” the culinary student chuckles. The sound of Chanyeol’s loud cackles is heard, followed by Jongdae and Baekhyun whining. Peeking out from the kitchen, it seems like the three of them has decided to play a game to decide who’s going to get more chicken. Minseok shakes his head before turning back to see Kyungsoo is already stirring the broth, soy sauce and chilli powder bottles near the stove opened. The cook takes a spoon to taste the broth, shaking his head before adding more chilli powder. 

 

A few minutes of altering the soup to make it edible, Kyungsoo offers a spoon towards Minseok. He accepts, tasting a spoonful before smiling in approval, patting the small of Kyungsoo’s back. He mouth a silent thank you before going back to join the three boys in the living room, leaving Kyungsoo in the kitchen. He sits beside Baekhyun, wearing the plastic glove before taking a drumstick offered by the boy beside him.

 

“What took you so long?” the younger asks, his mouth open. Minseok visibly cringes at that, causing Jongdae and Chanyeol to laugh.

 

“Baekhyun, don’t speak with your mouth full! You know our master student here hates that!” Jongdae cackles, earning a glare from the elder. 

 

Baekhyun laughs as well, before muttering a  _ ‘shorreh hyung’ _ . Kyungsoo comes then, bringing a bowl of stew for Chanyeol and himself, the smell so good that Jongdae seems surprised, glancing at Minseok questioningly. The elder simply winks subtly before he engages himself in Baekhyun’s story about his exam.

 

“Oh? This is so nice! Baekhyun, you didn’t buy this anywhere right?” Chanyeol asks loudly right after he tasted a spoon of stew, interrupting Baekhyun and Minseok’s conversation.

 

“Really? It’s that good?” Baekhyun asks with a glint in his eyes, something that is only possible if you’re an anime character, which Baekhyun is obviously not. Chanyeol nods with wide eyes while Kyungsoo simply sits beside him, eating his share of chicken quietly. While Baekhyun exclaims that he is probably born with a hidden skill in cooking and making all of them laugh at his shameless statement, Jongdae glances suspiciously between Minseok and Kyungsoo before tasting it himself.

 

“Yeah, you’re probably  _ that _ talented,” he agrees with a fake smile directed towards Baekhyun before squinting at Minseok who only shrugs nonchalantly as he eats his chicken. The initially awkward dinner ends with the four of them playing spin bottle until they’re too worn out to play while Kyungsoo excuses himself to sleep early since he still have one last class to teach tomorrow.

 

///

 

“Good morning! Rise and shine!” Baekhyun yells at Jongdae’s ear, waking him up from his deep slumber. The male groans into his pillow, annoyed that his sleep is disturbed as his roommate laughs. Baekhyun tells him to get up for breakfast before leaving the room, knocking on Minseok’s door loudly, yelling the same thing. Jongdae stretches on his bed, looking so much like a kitten. He blindly pats all over the bed, searching for his phone. Finding it at the edge of the bed, he quickly reaches for it, can’t afford to have that small device to fall down, he only have a few to survive on until he got his allowance in a week.

 

Leaving his room, he can smell something being cooked in the kitchen, though his lack of sense can’t pinpoint what kind of smell is it. Seeing Minseok’s door is still shut close, he knocks lazily. He is once again woken up by a soft thud from the door, probably an angry Minseok throwing his pillow at the door. Jongdae glares at the door, feeling offended before he heads into the kitchen. It smells something like vanilla and something burnt; he frowns, until his eyes darts on Baekhyun’s back, the boy is doing something at the stove. He is cooking. Baekhyun is cooking, again.

 

Horrified and traumatised from the bad stew experience, Jongdae strides over to take a good look on what his roommate is cooking. Standing beside him, Jongdae sees Baekhyun scooping the batter from the mixer bowl onto the pan, smiling like the sunshine that he is upon seeing Jongdae.

 

“Oh, you’re awake? I made pancakes,” he tells proudly, nodding towards a few pancakes on a serving plate beside the stove, their colours are a little too dark and some of them are kind of burnt to be considered edible. Jongdae lets out a lifeless chuckle, nodding; “yeah, I can see that.” He gives the other a gentle pat in the back before leaving the kitchen towards Minseok’s room. Minseok can throw a pillow or a knife at him, he really doesn’t care. What he really needs at the moment is for Minseok to save the world again.

 

He knocks frantically, turning the locked doorknob a few times in a hurry. After a number of slams and banging, a sleepy Minseok opens his door, looking even more intimidating when he is standing there with only his pj pants, topless, and his hair sticking everywhere, frowning. Jongdae stands sheepishly, though the panic is still there in his eyes.

 

“Hyung, Baekh-” he is cut off by Minseok who is now fully awake at the mention of the other’s name.

 

“What’s wrong with him? Did he get hurt? Where is he?” he asks in slight panic.

 

Jongdae rolls his eyes tiredly, “he’s not hurt or anything. Relax.”

 

Minseok’s shoulders visibly falls as he sighs in relief. Then he looks at the younger, wondering what on Earth happens that his weekend had to be disturbed with such noises. Without a word, Jongdae grabs his wrist and drag him into the kitchen, almost bumping into Baekhyun who is about to bring a plate of pancakes out. Baekhyun grins, greeting the elder brightly. He walks towards the living room and settles the plate on the table, leaving Minseok to gape at him whilst Jongdae is crying inwardly.

 

Baekhyun, already seated on the couch with the TV controller in one hand, asks for Jongdae to get water from the kitchen because he is already seated and  _ doesn’t feel like moving anymore. _ The poor boy slumps, Minseok giving him an encouraging pat before going over to sit with Baekhyun.

 

“I wanted to make fruity pancakes but we don’t have any more fruits in the fridge, so I just made a regular pancake,” he pouts a little. “It’s a little burnt because I don’t know how to control the fire, but it tastes just as good!” Baekhyun exclaims confidently, taking a bite to prove it.

 

Jongdae comes with a water pitcher and three cups, settling them beside the plate of pancakes. He sits solemnly, his eyes never leaving the burnt pancakes. Baekhyun gives each of them a fork, waiting for them to try his pancake. Minseok reluctantly take a bite, chewing slowly as he inspects the rest of the pancakes. Jongdae takes a bite as well, albeit only doing that after receiving a kick in the shin from the very Minseok himself. Forcing himself to swallow the tasteless pancake, Minseok smiles while Jongdae leans his back against Baekhyun’s leg tiredly, still unable to accept the piece of food in his mouth.

 

Baekhyun raises his brows, pouting subtly, a hint of disappointment hidden beneath his question, “is it that bad?” He looks at the both of them, worried. But Minseok shakes his head quickly, not wanting for the younger to feel bad. “No, of course not! It’s good!” As if to prove his statement, he takes another bite, drawing a smile on Baekhyun’s face.

 

“He’s just tired, leave him be,” Minseok nods towards Jongdae, now having his head leant on Baekhyun’s lap, watching the TV mindlessly. Wanting to mess with Jongdae, he offers another piece of pancake after a while, making the other groans. Baekhyun laughs, massaging his friend’s temple, absolutely unaware of what’s happening with the said friend.

 

It goes on for more than a week, Baekhyun excitedly trying a new recipe and making the others eat it, feeling more and more determined with Minseok’s encouragement. He has also been telling his mother about his newfound skills and hobby, his oblivious mother, amazed, won’t stop telling him she couldn’t wait to try his cooking which sparks even more motivation in her always enthusiastic son.

 

It is only until one night when Baekhyun is immersed in playing his game that Jongdae brings the topic up to Minseok. Minseok is too tired from doing his thesis to cook and they’re just simply relieved that Baekhyun isn’t attempting to cook anything that day so they decided to order Chinese take-outs, since all of them has just gotten their monthly allowance, eating take-outs once in a while wouldn’t hurt. Minseok is opening a can of beer, leaning tiredly against the couch whereas Jongdae is slurping the last bits of his black bean noodles. They hear curses coming from the closed door, followed by a frustrated and angry screaming.

 

“Until when are you going to keep this up?” Jongdae starts, putting the now empty bowl aside. He reaches for a can of beer on the table, tapping on it a few times before opening it. Minseok looks at him, his brows raised. “Keep what up?”

 

Jongdae rolls his eyes, sipping his beer before continuing; “just tell him that his cooking sucks! Stop lying to his face already. Speaking of which,” Jongdae sits straight. “Why do you insist on encouraging him? We are all going to die if you keep this up, hyung,” he tells the elder seriously. Another sound of curses is heard. Minseok shakes his head tiredly before sitting up straight as well.

 

“Because it’s been a while since he got  _ this _ enthusiastic over something, that’s why,” Minseok looks at the younger dead in the eye, no playful smile, nor hidden mischief. He is speaking so seriously that Jongdae is forced to take another sip of his beer. Minseok leans forward to put his can on the table. “What do you mean...?” Jongdae asks quietly.

 

“He’s always been that annoying, what do you mean it’s been a while since he got this enthusiastic over something? Is he not enthusiastic enough all this while?” Jongdae asks incredulously.

 

“I’ve known him for years, Jongdae. We practically grew up together. We’re close to each other, him, his late brother, and me. He looks up to his brother so much that he does whatever Baekbeom did; this major he is studying, is also because of Baekbeom. Boy was kind of an IT geek, you can say it like that. So when Baekbeom is gone,” he stops, inhaling a deep breathe, unable to continue. Jongdae stares at the elder quietly, waiting for him to finish. Minseok looks up from fiddling with his finger to Jongdae, who is staring, a glint of surprise and concern gleaming in his eyes.

 

“So when Baekbeom is gone, his life kind of dims. He couldn’t do what he used to love doing, he was unable to move on from his brother’s passing. It was really sad, when you see him at that time. And I’m telling you, Dae, what you see of him now, is only a quarter of him,” Minseok finishes quietly. Jongdae raises his brows at the last statement. Minseok chuckles quietly, knowing very well that the other going to be surprised. He nods, more to himself than to the boy beside him.

 

“He used to be someone with so much passion, you could literally see fire in his eyes. Whenever he did something, he did it wholeheartedly,  _ enthusiastically _ . Baekbeom had always been with him, encouraging him, fighting with him. As you can see now, he got interested in new things but he also quickly lose interest in them. He wasn’t like that. He used to really love designing, and the one that truly support him was none other than Baekbeom himself. I remember him throwing tantrums when his parents didn’t let him go to a Visual Arts Exhibition in the city because he’s still underage, you know how much they baby him, and his parents are both busy, while I, I didn’t care about those stuffs at that time. But Baekbeom skips his classes the day after to bring us there, Baekhyun was so happy, he wouldn’t stop smiling the entire day,” Minseok smiles sadly, reminiscing the old times.

 

Jongdae is still quiet, playing with the hem of his shirt, feeling a tad of sadness hearing Minseok’s story about Baekhyun’s past. The boy has been so annoyingly loud and sometimes does things so insane that it’s hard to believe he has such a sad past. It isn’t like Jongdae is quiet himself, he whines a lot,  _ that _ he knows, but Baekhyun’s loudness is above the level, so hearing that he have this side of himself just makes Jongdae feels kind of regretful. He has only known Baekhyun for a few years since they were grouped together as freshmen, the other had been so easy going and their personalities just match, they clicked so easily that their friendship is able to last this long.

 

“Oh,” is all that comes out from him, looking so gloomy by himself. Minseok laughs quietly as he moves closer towards the younger, slinging his arm around Jongdae’s shoulder, telling him that there’s nothing for him to be sorry about. Jongdae looks up, frowning with his eyebrows slanted downwardly making him look so sad and funny; so funny that Minseok can’t help but burst laughing. Jongdae whines, kind of upset that Minseok is laughing at him when he is feeling gloomy.

 

Baekhyun comes out a few moments later, bringing with him an empty bowl and a can of beer. Quickly leaving them on the table in front of his housemates, not even glancing at their direction as he strides back into his room, wanting to resume playing the game. Minseok snorts, so much for worrying about his wellbeing, he’s doing well enough with his game. He got up, picking the empty bowls and cans, leaving to throw them away.

 

Jongdae stands as well, turning off the TV and go into his room to find Baekhyun leaned back on his chair, playing so quietly which is unusual because he’s always screaming and cursing. He pads towards where Baekhyun is slumped on the chair, pressing his keyboard lazily. He cackles upon seeing that his friend isn’t playing Overwatch anymore, instead, the boy is playing solitaire, looking so pissed by himself. 

 

“What happened to your battle? You sound like you’re so capable of throwing the whole other team down – ARGH! What the hell?!” he groans, clutching his rib where Baekhyun mindlessly elbowed him. The boy doesn’t even look at him, much less saying sorry. Leaving Baekhyun to sulk in front of his PC, Jongdae leave to wash up in the bathroom before throwing himself on the bed, scrolling through his social medias before he sleep.

 

///

 

It’s only a week until the end of their semester break. Baekhyun hasn’t been cooking aside from when he’s craving for ramyeon while playing games until late night, which, of course, makes Jongdae feel better about not having to lie to his face. Minseok is kind of worried but he keeps it to himself, not wanting to hit blunt if he ever dares to ask. They don’t see any sort of weird changes coming from the boy; he’s been bubbly as usual, disturbing Minseok when he feels like it. But the elder, being the closest to Baekhyun out of all of them, always make sure to check on the latter’s wellbeing.

 

The day is Sunday. The sky is bright when Minseok wakes up and start preparing for breakfast. His mother had dropped by to visit, giving them boxes of side dishes and snacks, making sure to fill in their almost empty fridge. Thinking of making something light and quick, he whips out the ingredients to make kimchi pancake. Putting his playlist consisting of indie-pop and a little bit of RnB on his mini-speaker, he starts cooking, humming along to the tunes of the music.

 

Exactly 45 minutes later, he is done with a plate of kimchi pancakes enough for the three of them. Knocking softly on the door, he calls for Jongdae and Baekhyun, alternately. He is in too good of a mood to get mad when he doesn’t hear neither of them in the room, so he smiles to himself, taking a deep breathe before knocking a little louder. An annoyed groan can be heard, though he isn’t too sure if that was Jongdae or Baekhyun. “Come out to eat now,” he says chirpily before settling on the couch, taking a sip of coffee, waiting for them to come out.

 

Baekhyun comes out first, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he yawns obnoxiously, stretching like a little puppy. His eyes wanders around the house before they settle on Minseok, sitting calmly on the couch. His stomach grumbles loudly at the sight of the golden pancakes, looking so warm and soft and so, so delicious. He skipped dinner last night because he’s too engrossed in taking down his opponent in the game.

 

He calls for Jongdae excitedly, asking the sleeping male to wake up now or he will finish all the pancakes. Jongdae groans tiredly, having been out until late night for a small get together with his school mates. Throwing a pillow blindly towards Baekhyun’s direction, he mumbles something about wanting to kill his roommate if he didn’t left any pancakes for him. Baekhyun catches the pillow accurately, throwing it back to its owner before leaving to sit at the table, appreciating the heavenly smell of kimchi in the morning.

 

“You haven’t been cooking for a while?” Minseok asks when the younger has start munching on the light snack. Baekhyun stops to stare at the elder, confused. He comes to his senses again after a moment, about to explain himself when Minseok cuts him, “cook for lunch today.”

 

It takes him a while to digest the sentence before it finally downs on him, Minseok is asking him to cook. A soft smile slowly appears on his face, his eyes twinkling. “Really, hyung? You’d let me?” he asks, the twinkle in his eyes reads something equals to hope. Minseok gives him a lopsided smile, nodding as to confirm what he just asked the younger to do. Jongdae steps out of the room then, going into the kitchen first to get a glass of water before settling beside Minseok on the couch, shutting his eyes to sleep for a few more minutes.

 

Baekhyun’s loud cheers wake him up however, making him jerk awake, putting a hand on his chest to calm his beating heart from jumping out of his throat. He whines angrily, mad at Baekhyun for being loud so early in the morning.

 

“No need to be so mean to him,” Minseok nudges him jokingly. “He’s going to cook for lunch today. You better not get on his bad side or I don’t know what he’s going to put in your food,” he jokes, causing Baekhyun to laugh before seriously agreeing to the plan. Jongdae, at the mention of Baekhyun cooking, sits up straight, now fully awake. His eyes wide as he stares at the elder for explanation.

 

“I know you guys hate my cookings,” Baekhyun starts quietly, putting his chopstick down on the table. Minseok raises his eyebrow as Jongdae gapes in panic, Baekhyun knows? As if hearing the unspoken question, the said male laughs, though it is rather awkward. He looks at the both of them in the eyes before continuing; “I overheard you guys talking about it that night. I’m sorry if I’m being a burden, forcing you guys to eat those shitty foods, what was I thinking?”

 

The small smile on his face looks so forced that it pulls Minseok to slide down the couch and sling an arm around the younger’s broad shoulder, squeezing it softly. It is quiet for a moment, with Baekhyun sulking and Minseok holding him. Jongdae on the couch is looking elsewhere, feeling the guilt eating him for making Baekhyun feel bad because of his words. But another side of him is rejoicing, glad to have the other knows that his cooking is indeed shitty and Jongdae really couldn’t take any more of them.

 

“Hey, don’t feel bad. Since you’ve already heard what we were talking about that night, I’m sure you know why I didn’t stop you, right?” Minseok tilts his head so he can look at the younger in the eyes, so Baekhyun can look at the sincerity in his eyes. “Your cooking is really shitty, there’s no denying that fact,” Minseok laughs when Baekhyun shoots him a glare. “But that’s okay, Baek. Nobody is perfect from the very beginning, everyone has to learn from their mistakes. And I haven’t said anything about your cooking before because I want you to learn by yourself.”

 

Minseok pauses to punch Jongdae’s shin when the guy mutters something along the line of Baekhyun being too full of himself to even taste his own shitty foods. He grunts painfully, clutching his shin and whining over how Minseok doesn’t care about him. The elder simply roll his eyes before turning to look at Baekhyun again, relieved to see the boy sporting a genuine smile in his face again.

 

“So now I’m letting you cook whatever you want, as long as we’re there to assist you so you can learn. The fried rice you cooked the night we came back was nice, though. But Kyungsoo told me it’s because you only did the easy parts?” Minseok have a mischievous glint in his eyes as he bring that up, making Baekhyun look down in embarrassment.

 

Jongdae scoffs loudly, “No wonder it was so nice. I was thinking what the hell went wrong with you when I ate the stew.” He may or may not receive another punch in the shin and it may or may not came from a master student in the house. Telling Baekhyun to ignore the mean guy, Minseok ushers them to finish their breakfast so they can go out to shop for ingredients to cook for lunch. 

 

That afternoon, with the help of Minseok, Kyungsoo and Jongdae, Baekhyun manages to come out with a hot, delicious pot of spicy seafood stew as their main dish for the day. It is a little unfortunate that Chanyeol is unable to join them since he is away for another vacation with his family, but at least Jongdae doesn’t have to eat shitty food nor do all of them have to fake their reactions anymore. And Baekhyun, well, he is gaining a new skill now. Baekbeom once tell him that life is only a path full of effort, but maybe, Baekhyun’s path is going to be filled with foods from now on.


End file.
